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Modern British road signage could be traced to the development of the ‘ordinary’ bicycle and the establishment of clubs to further the interests of its riders, notably the Cyclists’ Touring Club (CTC), the National Cyclists’ Union (NCU) and the Scottish Cyclists’ Union (SCU). By the early 1880s all three organisations were erecting their own cast iron ‘danger boards’. Importantly, as the name suggests, these signs warned of hazards, rather than just stating distances and/or giving direction to spots, acknowledging the fact that cyclists, like modern motorists, were unlikely to be familiar together with the roads they were travelling along and were travelling too fast to take avoiding action without prior warning. In addition, it was the cycling lobby that successfully pressured government (in 1888) into vesting ownership of and responsibility for roads with county councils in previously established Highway Districts (HDs) that would be funded from taxation rather than tolls. The HDs were active while in the erection of semi-standardised direction signs and mileposts within the latter years of the 19th century.

The rise of Motoring following 1896 saw the pattern repeated. The larger motoring clubs, notably the Automobile Association (AA) and the Royal Scottish Automobile Club (RSAC) erected their own, idiosyncratic warning boards and direction signs on a wide scale. In addition, under the 1903 Motor Act, 4 national signs were made, supposed to get set at least 8 feet from the ground and fifty yards in the reference point. These signs were interesting in being primarily based on shape, rather than text or image; a white ring (speed limited as marked on a small facts plate below it; somewhat ironic, given that few motor vehicles carried speedometers); a white (sometimes red) diamond (a ‘motor notice’ e.g. body weight restriction, given on a plate below); a red disc,(a prohibition); and a red, open triangle (a hazard or warning). These latter two could be given detail by the attachment of an information plate below, but often it was left to the motorist to guess what the sign was referring to and local versions as to the definition of what was a prohibition or just a ‘notice’, for instance, were frequent. In spite of this confusing beginning, this format of sign was to develop into the British road sign that was conventional from 1934 until 1964. Before this time, until 1933, when regulations for traffic signs were published under powers designed by the Road Traffic Act (RTA) of 1930, ‘national’ road signage specifications were only advisory.

Following a review of ‘national’ signage in 1921 a limited number of warning/hazard info plates were enhanced by the use of symbols, rather than text only. Such symbols had been developed in continental Europe as early as 1909, but had been dismissed by the UK, which favoured the use of text. The symbols were straightforward silhouettes, effortless to ‘read’ at a distance. Some were peculiarly British, ‘SCHOOL’ (and later even ‘CHILDREN’) depicted by the flaming torch of knowledge, presumably assuming that all motorists were affluent enough to have enjoyed a classical education. Government was to generate increasing efforts to standardise road signs from the Road Traffic Act of 1930 and regulations of 1933, being finally consolidated while using the publication of the 1934 Road Traffic Acts and Regulations. These saw the stop of the really individual black and yellow vitreous enamel AA signs (although the AA was still allowed to erect temporary direction signs, and still does). Whilst the RSAC had ceased erecting signs, the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) had begun to do so to RTA specifications (save for the inclusion of the RAC badge) and was really active in this respect in the late 1930s.

The national British signs were now a red disc (prohibition) a red, open triangle (warning/hazard), a red ring (an order), and a red, open triangle in a ring for your new (1933) warning with order ‘SLOW -MAJOR ROAD AHEAD’ and ‘HALT AT MAJOR ROAD AHEAD’ plates. (The predecessors of ‘GIVE WAY’ and ‘STOP’). All signs were to carry information and facts plates mounted below them, the warnings or hazards being illustrated with a wide range of prescribed symbols, but with a text panel below, being only text where no symbol existed. Lettering and symbols were black on a white ground except for orders (e.g. TURN LEFT) , which were white on blue. New to the UK were the first combination sign, which incorporated info on the sign itself, the 30 miles per hour speed restriction (introduced in 1934), ’30’ in black letters on a white disc (the details) surrounded by a red ring (the order sign). It was accompanied by its ‘derestriction’ a white disc with a diagonal black band bisecting it. Neither of these signs required separate information plates. The 1934 RTA&R also clarified direction and distance signage which also remained in that form until 1964. All signs were mounted on posts painted in black and white stripes, and their reverse sides were finished black, green, or a lot more rarely (usually right after repainting) white. The HALT plate was unique in being T shaped, orders were mainly landscape and warnings always portrait. Sizes were strictly prescribed, the warning plate being 21×12 inches with all the surmounting triangle 18 inches equal.

The national signs were subject to minor modification, mainly inside early post-war years. For instance, ‘SCHOOL’ became a schoolboy and girl marching off a kerb, ‘CHILDREN’ a boy and girl playing handball on a kerb’s edge. ‘CROSSING NO GATES’ was given a more toy-like locomotive. Meanwhile the triangle was inverted for ‘HALT’ and ‘SLOW’, although ‘NO ENTRY’ became a combination sign – a red disc bisected by a horizontal white rectangle bearing the lettering. Orders were now black on white, save for ‘NO WAITING’, which was black on yellow in a red ring. Some of these changes were part of an attempt to reflect European standards.

Early road signs were usually cast iron, but this was increasingly displaced by cast aluminium within the 1930s. Cast signs were built to be maintained by being repainted with all the raised lettering and symbol easily picked out by an untrained hand. This sort of sign was sometimes given an element of night use by the inclusion of glass reflectors. An different to casting and painting was vitreous enamelled sheet iron or steel. Inside 1950s cast signs were promptly displaced by sheet metal (usually aluminium) coated with adhesive plastics, these could be created reflective, famously by ‘Scotchlite’. Such signs had become almost universal by the reforms of the early 1960s.

The major reform of UK road signage to more reflect mainland European practice happened in two stages. The first was associated along with the first motorway construction project and the development of a signage system for it by the Anderson Committee (1957). Even though it was additional to the existing signage, it set a number of benchmarks that were developed under the Worboys Committee (1963) that was largely responsible for the road signage system effected from 1964, which is still current. Until Worboys, the most notable differences between European signs and those inside UK was their reliance on symbols without text wherever possible, thereby increasing the internationalism of their ‘language’, jointly with their combined nature, for instance the warning signs having the symbol inside of the triangle instead of on a separate information and facts plate. The Worboys Committee recommended that such practices were adopted inside UK and the ‘New Traffic Signs’ of 1964 were part of the most comprehensive reformation of the UK streetscape that the country has experienced. Unlike previous government efforts to regulate signage, which tended to be cumulative, Worboys argued a modernist placement of starting from zero, with all previous signs being deemed obsolete, illegal even, therefore subject to total and systematic replacement. As a result local authorities were charged with massive resignage programmes. Order and Prohibition signs were almost all replaced inside of a couple of years, with all the warning and direction signs taking somewhat for a longer time. Few pre 1964 warning signs survived far more than about ten years, and, while direction signs were similarly replaced, much more have survived as they were not deemed as crucial as the others in regulatory terms.

The system currently in use was mainly developed inside the late 1950s and the early 1960s, with additional colour coding introduced while in the mid 1980s. There were three major steps inside the development of the system.

The Anderson Committee established the motorway signing system.
The Worboys Committee reformed signing for existing all-purpose roads.
The Guildford Rules introduced features to indicate different categories of route.

In 1957, a government committee was formed to design signs for that new motorway network. A system was needed that could be effortlessly read at high speed. Colin Anderson, chairman of P&O, was appointed chairman; T. G. Usborne, of the Ministry of Transport had charge of proceedings. Two graphic designers were commissioned to design the system of signage: Jock Kinneir and his assistant (and later organization partner) Margaret Calvert. The new signs were first utilized on the Preston By-pass in 1958.[1]
[edit] Worboys Committee
Main article: Worboys Committee

The UK government formed another committee in 1963 to review signage on all British roads. It was chaired by Sir Walter Worboys of ICI. The result was a document that defined traffic signing in Britain: Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions (TSRGD). It was first introduced on 1 January 1965 but has been updated many times since. It’s comparable using the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices in the United States.
[edit] Guildford Rules

As part of an effort to eliminate sign clutter inside mid-1980s, a colour-coding system was developed to indicate information and facts pertaining to different categories of route. The system became identified as Guildford Rules, soon after the town of Guildford, Surrey, where experimental variations of this signing system were tested.[specify] But in later years, the term Guildford Rules became infrequently employed.[citation needed]
[edit] Design
A sign for your Magic Roundabout in Swindon showing a rather unorthodox method of incorporating mini-roundabouts into signage. (The correct method, introduced from the 1994 TSRGD, is to use a black disc with central white dot for every single mini-roundabout.) This peculiarity is common in Wiltshire.
A British speed limit (in mph) sign in a residential region.

UK roadsigns are governed by an extremely complex and detailed set of guidelines. The simple models of measurement utilized by sign designers are the ‘x-height’ (the height of the lower case letter ‘x’) and the ‘stroke width’ (sw) (4 sw = one x-height). dome utility marker post The sizes of borders, symbols and arrows and the spacing and layout of the sign face are expressed in sw, so that all the factors remain in proportion. The x-height of a sign is dictated mainly by the speed of traffic approaching it, hence 300mm x-heights are prevalent on motorways, whereas parking signs are principally at 15mm or 20mm x-height. [2].

Traffic signs are generally intended employing specialist computer software. The 2 most well known systems are SignPlot from Buchanan Computing, and KeySign[3] (previously AutoSign) from Key Traffic Systems, originally developed in 1980s by Pete Harman and Geoff Walker while working for Humberside County Council.
[edit] Shape

Almost all signs have rounded corners. This is partly for aesthetic reasons. It really is also safer for anyone coming into contact with a sign, and it makes the sign extra resilient, as rain is less likely to corrode the corners.
[edit] Models of measurement

Britain is the only European Union member nation to use Imperial rather than SI measurements for distance[4] and speed.[5] Aside in the USA and Burma-Myanmar, it’s the only highways network still adopting the Imperial system but the Secretary of State for Transport can authorise the use of metric models (and while in the case of driver area signs has done so).[6] The Welsh Assembly and the appropriate minister inside Scottish Parliament have similar powers. However, vehicle fat limits are signed only in metric (TSRGD 1981), and metric units may well optionally be applied in addition to imperial ones for height, width and length restrictions.

Because of the disproportionate number of bridge strikes involving foreign lorries (between 10 and 12% in 2008),[7] the British Government has made dual models mandatory on new height warning and restriction signs on 9 April 2010. Utility marker post [8] However, a wholesale metrication of distance signage in line with all other EU states is not under consideration. [edit] Colours.

Three colour combinations are used on Worboys direction signs depending upon the category of the route. A road may be a motorway (white on blue), a primary route (white on dark green with yellow route numbers), or a non-primary route (black on white).[9][10]

TSRGD 1994 prescribed a system of white-on-brown direction signs for tourist attractions and also introduced the Guildford Rules (see below). TSRGD 2002[11] contains the current standards and includes a sophisticated system of black-on-yellow direction signs for roadworks Marker post.

On Advance Direction Signs, as introduced under the Guildford rules, the background colour indicates the category of route on which it truly is located.[10] On all directional signs, destination names are placed on the colour appropriate to the category of route utilized from that junction.[10] A panel of a person colour on a different colour of background as a result indicates a change of route status.[10] A smaller spot of colour, called a patch, surrounds a bracketed route number (but not its associated destination) to indicate a higher status route that is joined some distance away.[10] A patch might only be coloured blue or green.[10]

Signs indicating a temporary change such as roadworks or route diversions are denoted with a yellow background. Usually these signs use an easy black on yellow colour code, much more complex signage use the traditional signs superimposed onto a yellow background.

For ease of reference, the main colour coding rules are summarised in Table one.
Background Border Lettering Usage Ruleset
White Black Black Non-primary Route Worboys
White Red Black Ministry of Defence sites
Yellow Black Black Roadworks Guildford
Green White White with Yellow Route Numbers Primary Route Worboys
Blue White White Motorway Anderson
Brown White White Attractions

The colour coding for Patches and/or Panels on signs is summarised in Table two.
Patch or Panel Border Lettering Usage Ruleset
Red White Hospitals Guildford
Red Black Ministry of Defence sites Guildford
Green White Primary Route Guildford
Blue White Motorway Guildford
Brown White Attractions Guildford

Transport is a mixed-case font and is utilized for all text on fixed permanent signs except route numbers on motorway signs.[2] It really is employed in two weights: Transport Medium (for light text on dark backgrounds) and Transport Heavy (for dark text on light backgrounds).[2]

Motorway has a limited character set consisting of just numbers and a few letters and symbols needed to show route numbers; it has elongated characters and is built to add emphasis to route numbers on motorways.[2] Motorway is employed to sign all route numbers on motorways themselves, and may perhaps also be utilised on non-motorway roads to sign directions in which motorway regulations apply without delay (such as motorway slip roads). Motorway Permanent is light characters on dark background; Motorway Temporary (dark on light).

Transport Medium and Motorway Permanent were developed for that Anderson Committee and appeared on the first motorway signs. The other two typefaces are similar but have additional stroke width inside letters to compensate for light backgrounds. These typefaces are the only ones permitted on road signs inside the UK. Despite the fact that signs containing other typefaces do appear occasionally in some sites, there’re explicitly forbidden in Government guidelines, and therefore are technically illegal.
[edit] Language
Signs in Wales are generally bilingual, such as this “historic route” sign on the A5 near Menai Bridge.
Put names in Gaelic are becoming increasingly typical on road signs throughout the Scottish Highlands.

Bilingual signs are utilized in Wales. Welsh highway authorities pick out whether they’re “English-priority” or “Welsh-priority”, and the language having priority in every single highway authority’s region appears first on signs. Most of south Wales is English-priority though western, mid, and most of northern Wales are Welsh-priority. Bilingual signs were permitted by special authorisation following 1965 and in 1972 the Bowen Committee recommended that they should be provided systematically throughout Wales.

Bilingual signing in Wales and elsewhere has caused traffic engineers to inquire into the safety ramifications of providing sign legend in multiple languages. As a result some countries have opted to limit bilingual signing to dual-name signs near spots of cultural importance (New Zealand), or to use it only in narrowly circumscribed locations such as near borders or in designated language zones (such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) countries). A small number of these signs exist inside UK on major roads that leave major ports (such as Dover). They detail in English, French, German, and, occasionally, Swedish, conventional speed limits and reminders to drive on the left. Multi-lingual “no parking” signs exist in several places on the M25.

In the Scottish Highlands, road signs often have Scottish Gaelic in green, in addition to English in black. This seems to get part of the Gaelic language revival encouraged by many, including the Brd na Gidhlig; see Gaelic road signs in Scotland.
[edit] Retroreflection

Road signs in the UK must be retroreflective in order for drivers to read them at night. There are 3 commonly employed grades of products utilised:[citation needed]

Class one (Engineering Grade)is a low performance glass bead product or service, it was the first reflective material employed on the UK network and invented by 3M. Today from the UK it is utilised only for street nameplates and parking signs.

Class 2 (High Intensity) is generally a microprismatic product which uses truncated cube corners to return light to the driver. It is commonly utilized for directional signs or less vital regulatory signs. There are also high intensity glass bead products that meet this class.

Class 3 (Diamond Grade)is a high conclude microprismatic item for crucial signs, those on high speed roads and in places of ambient lighting where a driver may well be distracted by the light clutter. Class 3 is often divided into two divisions; 3A for very long distance and 3B for short distance. Marker post Currently the only product that performs to these levels is DG3. [edit] Categorisation.

Road signs in the United Kingdom may possibly be categorised as:
[edit] Directional signs
A typical roundabout sign on a primary road.
An old style fingerpost directional sign within the village of Chawton with a county indicator annulus above it.

The term “directional sign” covers both Advance Direction Signs (ADS), placed on the approach to a junction,[12] and Direction Signs (DS) at the junction itself, showing where to turn.[12] A DS has a chevron (pointed) stop, and this type is also referred to as a flag-type sign.[13]

Stack type[12] – with the locations in each and every direction on a separate panel that also contains an arrow;
Map-type[12] – to give a highly clear and simplified diagrammatic plan view of a junction, for example a roundabout.
Focused lane[12] – shows the destinations separated by vertical dotted lines to indicate which lane to use;
Mounted overhead[12] – for use on busy motorways and other wide roads where verge mounted signs would be routinely obstructed by other traffic.

An ADS generally has blue, green or white as its background colour to indicate the status of road (motorway, primary or non-primary) on which it is actually placed. Except on the main carriageway of a motorway, coloured panels are utilized to indicate routes from your junction being signed that have a different status. A DS should always be just one colour indicating the status of the road to get joined, although there are a few rare exceptions to this rule.

The Heavy and Medium typefaces were meant to compensate for the optical illusion that makes dark lines on pale backgrounds appear narrower than pale lines on dark backgrounds. Hence destinations are written in mixed case white Transport Medium on green and blue backgrounds, and in black Transport Heavy on white backgrounds. Route numbers are coloured yellow when placed directly on a green background. Some signs logically show the closest destination on the route first (ie, on top), though others show the most distant settlement first. On a roundabout DS, the route destinations are usually listed with the closest destination at the bottom and the furthest away at the top when going straight ahead, and likewise going left and ideal. However, many left-right signs logically indicate the closest destination at the top with further afield locations listed in descending order.

Destinations/roads which cannot be directly accessed on a driver’s current actual route, but is often accessed via an artery route of that carriageway, are displayed in brackets.

All types of ADS (but not DS) could optionally have the junction name at the top of the sign in capital letters in a separate panel Marker posts.

A route confirmatory sign is placed both soon after a junction where distances were not shown on the ADS or DS or is placed on an overhead info sign but does not show distances to the destinations along that route.[13]
[edit] Warning signs

The importance of a warning sign is emphasised by the red border drawn around it and the mainly triangular shape.
This sign warns drivers that there might be a queue (line) of traffic ahead, perhaps hidden beyond a visual obstruction.
UK road sign warning of horses and riders ahead.
No Motor Automobiles, Dunwich, Suffolk.
[edit] Regulatory signs

Signs in circular red borders are prohibitive, whether or not they also have a diagonal red line. Circular blue signs mainly give a positive (mandatory) instruction. Such circular signs may well be accompanied by, or area on, a rectangular plate (information and facts) that provides particulars of the prohibition or instruction; for example, waiting and loading plates and zone entry signs.

“Stop” signs (octagonal) and “Give Way” signs (inverted triangle) are the 2 notable exceptions, the distinctive shapes being recognisable even if the face is obscured by dirt or snow.
[edit] Informational signs

Informational signs are mainly rectangular (square or oblong) but, strictly speaking, this category also covers directional signs. They may be often coloured to match the directional signing for that status of road in question, but where this is not necessary they’re generally blue with white text. Examples include things like “lane gain” and “lane drop” signs on grade-separated roads, and “IN” and “OUT” indications for accesses to private premises through the highway.
[edit] Road works signs

Road works are normally signalled with a triangular, red-bordered warning format is used to indicate that there are works ahead. The graphic is of a man digging. In the roadworks, diversions and other instructions to drivers are normally given on yellow signs with black script.[14]
[edit] Street name signs

Legally these are not defined as traffic signs while in the UK. This gives authorities flexibility on the design and placement of them. They may be fixed to a signpost, wall, lamp column, or building. The text is usually inside the Transport typeface utilised on road signs. It truly is also widespread for street nameplates to use the serif font made by David Kindersley.
Driver location sign and Site marker post on A38 inside the West Midlands.
[edit] Site identifiers

Numbered route markers of 1 type or another are used to discover specific areas along a road. Historically, milestones were employed, but since the early 20th century they fell into disuse. However, for administrative and maintenance purposes, area marker posts measured in kilometres (rather than in miles) have been erected on motorways and certain dual carriageways.[15] The numbers on location marker posts were embedded into emergency roadside telephone numbers and were applied by the emergency services to pinpoint incidents.[16] The advent of the mobile phone meant that location numbers that were embedded into motorway emergency telephone systems could no lengthier be utilised and since 2007 driver location signs have been erected on many motorways. These contain critical data about the place and carriageway direction, and the reference number should be quoted in full when contacting the emergency solutions.
[edit] Northern Ireland, Crown Dependencies and overseas territories
Road sign in Gibraltar – note the distance is given in metres

The designs of road signs in Great Britain is prescribed inside the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions (TSRGD) apply specifically to England, Scotland and Wales. These regulations do not lengthen to other territories that come under the jurisdiction of the Crown. Road signs in Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are under the jurisdiction of their local legislatures. Although the policy in these territories is to align their road signs with those prescribed within the TSRGD, small variations may perhaps be seen.

Traffic signs in Northern Ireland are prescribed by The Traffic Signs Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997 and so are administered by the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Tynwald (Isle of Man Parliament), through its Traffic Signs (Application) Regulations 2003 explicitly included Part I of the TSRGD into Manx law, but not the other parts of that legislation. 1 of the consequences of this partial incorporation is that though in England and Wales speed limit signs must appear on equally sides of a carriageway, this is not necessary inside Isle of Man.[17]

Road signs in Gibraltar and the British Sovereign Base Parts in Cyprus are controlled by the Ministry of Defence. While in the SBA road signs are modelled on Cypriot road signs rather than British Road signs[18] including the use of metric speed limits[19] while in Gibraltar the rule of the road is to drive on the right and also to use metric units (as inside the rest of the Iberian peninsula).[20]

Road signs in Hong Kong also use a modified version of the British model, including the Transport font. This policy has continued post- the 1997 transfer of sovereignty to China. Directional signs involve place-names in Chinese characters which have been designed to match the Transport font, as very well as English-language text.